"A quarter of jobs in America pay below the federal poverty line for a family of four ($23,050). Not only are many jobs low-wage, they are also temporary and insecure. Over the last three years, the temp industry added more jobs in the United States than any other, according to the American Staffing Association, the trade group representing temp recruitment agencies, outsourcing specialists and the like.

"Low-wage, temporary jobs have become so widespread that they threaten to become the norm."

You can read the rest of the article at the above link. Although over a year old, I would guess that the trend must be in the same direction. And it's disturbing for the many American workers who are caught up in this "temp employment" not by choice, but because no other options are available.

While the jobs report is relatively good news, I agree with Neil Irwin, in that it's not as good as it looks.

"The number of people in the labor force fell by a whopping 806,000, wiping out the February and March gains and a bit of January as well. The labor force participation rate fell by 0.4 percentage points to 62.8 percent, returning to its December level."

"Both hours worked and wages were unchanged. If the economy is to ever expand more robustly, it will require workers to make more money, giving them the income to buy more goods, services and houses; in April at least, there was no progress on wages."

That is certainly not good news, and Republicans are slamming the report on those points. But Republicans are a part of the problem and not the solution. As we have said many times in this website, we need an infusion of spending to accelerate recovery. That spending could and should come in the form of passing a Jobs Act to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, extend unemployment benefits for those that are still having a hard time finding a job, raising the minimum wage and passing a comprehensive immigration bill.

Many Republicans understand all this and under any other president than this African American, they would likely have approved all these common sense legislative measures to improve the lives of Americans and give a boost to the economy. But not this Republican controlled Congress that though filibustering and blockage of proposed legislation has hurt Americans out of spite for Obama.

The thing I can not understand is the "housing" numbers; in the past the "housing" gave many people good jobs; this is still way below what it should be. I wonder are kids moving in with their parents and don't buy houses any more? Or have both parents and their grown up kids not the resources to buy a house? What is going on and reason that the housing market does not really pick up?

I am not convinced that politicians create jobs. The economy and jobs are improving slowly, but organically. It is the best type of growth. Building is slow because rental property is more popular and fewer are over committing to housing since it proved to be a bust as an investment. The oil industry is fracking our way to energy independence and creating a resurgence in manufacturing. Leave it to the GOP to bad mouth these employment figures which they would have gladly embraced if Romney had been elected to pick up the gentle upward economic breeze at Obama's back since the depths of the Great Republican induced (aren't they all?) Recession.

Yes, the drop out of the work force or going to part time seems to be creating a false picture with lower unemployment.
The D.C. and State govt.s could be of benefit if they would start managing effectively the money that comes in as taxes and fees, etc. It is not fair to any of us to be asked to pay more and not have a transparent accounting of where the money is going. I hear from those that have worked in D.C that money flows like water into it and it sounds like a feeding frenzy. Meanwhile many of us are discussing if we can spend an extra five dollars for slurpees for the kids.

The Repubs are of course deliberately refusing to help the Recovery. Not only do they want to give the President a black eye, but they have even a more sinister motive. The GOP is infiltrated with Birchers, or birthers, or maybe BOTH, who want to destroy this Govt of democracy. It should be simple to grasp, but somehow eludes many people. If you want to destroy the US (or any country) all you have to do is destroy their Economy. And
the GOP are in control over most of our industry, half (or more) of our Govt, and much of our military. So they just always refuse to do whatever is
necessary, because they don't care at all about the survival of us "ordinary" folks. THEY can live forever on just the contents of their offshore bank accts, which are illegal because they are used to "evade taxation." But somehow law enforcement does not try to arrest the GOP - I wonder why?

HOW DID OUR GrandParents MANAGE TO SURVIVE the GREAT DEPRESSION? (extreme poverty, no jobs, no welfare, etc)

Franklin D. Roosevelt (a Democrat President) had some very good ideas. He put the people to work, doing things like fixing & bldg new roads & bridges. He brought electric power & telephone lines into Appalachia. There were places you could bring your gold & silver jewelry to be melted, for the metal, which was used for the War efforts. People worked closely together, so if Joe needed some milk for his kids, he traded some potatoes, eggs, or soybean oil for the milk. If Lucy wanted some pork chops for dinner, she could trade a quilt she had made, or her best old purse, or she could offer to embroider an apron with fancy designs of roses & lilacs on it. People could "barter" most any goods for services & vice-versa. It was
a very cooperative effort, for the common good. People could offer to plow your field, for goods -- or babysit your children in exchange for a ride into town to go shopping. You could rent a room to live in, for exchange of your helping with the housework or planting the gardens. More people lived with strangers, in exchange for favors or services. It was almost Biblical, how they helped each other thru bad times.

There were very many useful ideas in Roosevelt's time. He gave "free" classes to men & women which could teach them "survival" skills. It offered a way out, of the nation's engulfing poverty, with action and HOPE. Women were taught upholstery & sewing skills, so they could make their own clothing & clothes for the children. Upholstery could be used for home improvement, but even for a "job." Women learned to make & embroider quilts, clothing, aprons, curtains, etc which could be for themselves or For Sale. A source for extra money when you need it. They learned how to can food, like pickles in a jar, canned tomatoes, etc. (Food preservation). Men learned carpentry, building furniture, cabinets, sheds, etc. Some could provide transportation for neighbors, in exchange for some food. People were taught how to paint walls, paint murals, & other forms of arts for the home, which also could become a "job." People could even trade chickens for a Dr Appt, back in those days, but it could not be overdone.
A doctor can only eat "so many" chickens. (ha) It worked best in small towns or rural communities, & for a simplified lifestyle.

BUT for NOW?? -- WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? --- Can we give "classes" to our poor folks, so they can "live"?

Yes, good story. My idea is though that these things come in "waves" ; prosperity creates "bubbles" then the "bubbles" explode; they lead into overspending when things are good and more "breeding" of the species; who then also want jobs. Also our production society gets more "robotised"/"Chinatised" so less people are required on the treadmill. Furthermore our society gets more and more "monopolised" (bigger companies gobble up others and cut back on workers) On top of that our country keeps on producing "war" junk on a large scale at huge cost, which is more or less an "fake social" work program; because the end result does not improve our infrastructure etc. So just sit back relax and wait for the next "wave"; until the "waves" are so big it will swallow you. I guess "classes" will not help as long as our society is pure "money " driven and the poor folks stay dependant of the "robber barrons"

Yes, the solution is NOT simple. It was a whole different society in 1939. People were different then. We are suffering from vast over-population, partially from homegrown ones & then the whole immigrant situation. I am not prejudiced, but sometime people have to realize that if hundreds of people enter illegally every day, they all need food & housing, then jobs to feed themselves & we just cannot SUSTAIN hundreds & thousands of people entering each day. Back in 1939, there was a "quota" on immigrants from each nation. For instance, in Norway, they could only send 200 immigrants PER YEAR. But NOW, the illegals (from anywhere) probably are coming in like 200 PER DAY (or MORE). That is more than we can feed & employ with our economy the way it is. And in the "old days" any immigrants had to have a "sponsor" to vouch for their character, and a "job" waiting for them, & they could not even sneeze or cough at Ellis Island or they would be "sent back" where they came from. It was very STRICT to get into America back then. (That was to prevent crime, instability, or epidemics).

Now we are overwhelmed with people who can't get jobs, have no way to pay for housing, not especially verbally eloquent, or well-educated or trained for jobs, & when they get desperate, will have no other option, but to commit crimes. Then we have to put them in jail, where it costs taxpayers billions$$ to feed them, do their laundry, give them dentist care, pay for haircuts, & pay for guards, & pay for their lawyers, etc. (Costs more than putting them thru college). Doing this for millions of people who are NOT here legally, it would be cheaper to PAY them to leave, or FLY them to EGYPT. (ha) And I haven't even talked about the FACTS that women still can get pregnant when they cross the border. Within one year, how many thousands of illegal babies are born? In order to solve the problem, we have to ADMIT what the problem IS.

It may not be "politically correct" but we must FACE it in order to solve it. So now you have to add in Doctor & Hospital costs for new babies born by the millions a year. And the cost of feeding them, & 5 yrs later, educating them. Have to hire special Ed teachers to translate English to Spanish & vice versa. This takes up lots of class time, so the non-Latino kids get bored & drop out. And the Latino kids get frustrated & they drop out. So they get involved in drugs or booze, & do something wrong to pay for it. THEN they go to Juvenile detention. This costs us millions$ to house them & feed them, do their laundry, haircuts, dentistry, pay for guards, lawyers, etc. Meantime they pick up bad habits & learn new crimes from the other inmates. Young girls find ways to get pregnant, -- & the whole cycle keeps repeating on & on.

I do not have exact statistics of INMATE POPULATIONS per state, or even Nation-wide. But it is a multi-Million dollar Industry, for sure. We always want to do the "humane" thing, the "right" thing, & the "best" thing for all these people. BUT HOW? If we continue to bankrupt our whole country keeping millions of people in a Human Zoo, - how does this benefit ANYBODY? We are ALL suffering from this. EVERY ONE OF US.

It appears that LAWS do not work. And the Fences do not work. Maybe we should check & see what they do in OTHER countries? How do they handle this in -- say, Russia. What would THEY do if thousands of illegal immigrants sprinted across their border?